Boeing's first astronaut launch is off until late next week to replace a bad rocket valve
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing’s first astronaut launch is off until late next week because of a bad valve in the rocket that needs to be replaced.
The countdown was halted Monday night after a pressure-relief valve in the Atlas V rocket’s upper stage opened and closed so quickly and so many times that it created a loud buzz. Engineers for United Launch Alliance determined Tuesday that the valve has exceeded its design limit and must now be removed, pushing liftoff to no earlier than May 17.
The NASA astronauts assigned to the Starliner capsule’s test flight to the International Space Station — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — will remain at Cape Canaveral.
Starliner’s first crew flight already is years behind schedule because of a multitude of capsule problems.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Related articles
Ben Affleck did NOT get plastic surgery ahead of Tom Brady's Netflix roast
Ben Affleck may have been on hand to roast Tom Brady – but the actor found himself the target of an2024-05-08China's road, water passenger trips plunge in Jan.
China's road and water passenger volume logged a year-on-year decline in the first four months o2024-05-08Cicadas are so noisy in South Carolina that residents are calling the police
NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP) — Emerging cicadas are so loud in one South Carolina county that residents are c2024-05-08Paris 2024 torch lit in ancient Olympia, relay under way
The Olympic flame that will be burning for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games started its journey after be2024-05-08Recreational marijuana backers try to overcome rocky history in South Dakota
Advocates of legalizing recreational marijuana in South Dakota, a mission with a rocky history, subm2024-05-08Putin likely didn’t order death of Navalny, US intelligence official says
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin2024-05-08
atest comment